Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf speaks at a news conference after Minneapolis was selected as the host for 2018 Super Bowl at the NFL’s spring meetings, Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in Atlanta. Minneapolis will host the 2018 Super Bowl after a vote by owners on Tuesday rewarded the city for getting a new stadium deal. The owners chose Minneapolis and the new $1 billion stadium planned for the site of the old Metrodome to host the championship over New Orleans and Indianapolis. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A spokesman for the Minnesota Vikings on Friday said the team had received a letter from U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum asking for team owner Zygi Wilf to publicly condemn the use of “Redskins” as an NFL team name and that the team takes the concerns seriously.

“We have a significant Native American population in Minnesota, some of whom are partners of ours, and we’re sensitive to the issues they raise,” said Lester Bagley, team vice president.

In a letter sent Thursday, McCollum, the Democratic co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, urged Wilf to support changing the mascot after this week’s canceling of the Redskins’ trademark registration by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Minnesota is hosting Washington on Nov. 2 in a game to be played at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community gave $10 million toward the construction of TCF Bank Stadium to fund a plaza on the western edge celebrating the state’s Indian communities. A spokeswoman said Friday the tribe was not taking a public position on the Washington mascot controversy.

University officials said they have a work group looking at the impact the Vikings-Washington football game will have on the campus community.

Asked when or if Wilf would make a public statement on the mascot name, Bagley didn’t answer directly. “We’re active on it. We’re working on it,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

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